Stage 5 is by far the longest stage in the race as the 235 kilometers from St. Johann-Alpendorf to Sonntagberg is rated hilly due to the incredibly steep finish up Sonntagberg. No doubt the hill is one of the toughest in the world with its average gradient of about 16 percent.
Stage favourites are “as usual” Bibby Levarlet Schreurs
The weather isn’t brilliant as the 126 riders left in the race line up for another tough one in Austria. Rain must be expected on the 235 kilometers.
The length of the stage doesn’t stop riders from attacking early though, and Penasa Hasanovic Montenegro Squire Salgueiro
are the first attackers. They immediately get nice gap of 1’30 with 223 kilometers left as the rain has started to drop.
King of the mountains Salgueiro
rolls through the first intermediate sprint 207 kilometers away from home first. No interest from anyone in these sprint points, which is as expected. If they survive to the categorized climbs we can look forward to an intense fight though. In addition to the Spanish leader, third place in the mountain classification
Squire Halford
has made it into the breakaway together with tenth placed in that competition Montenegro
Hasanovic
is the only rider of the five up front who hasn’t been in a breakaway. He shows himself as he wins the second intermediate sprint 192 kilometers from the finishing line. The gap has grown to 5’40 back to the peloton.
146 kilometers to go and it’s yellow jersey team LukOil-Rostelekom
doing most of the work back in the peloton. They’re not really chasing here in the first half of the stage though, as the early escapers advantage is up to 9’40.
Salgueiro
is the best placed rider in the overall classification of the riders in the breakaway, being only 3’54 behind race leader Iglinski
He claims another six bonus seconds 110 kilometers away from home. More interesting though, is the fact that they’re 12’20 ahead of the peloton! Will it be another breakaway win here in Austria?
Salgueiro Squire
are the only riders attacking for the first six mountain points on offer today. The Spaniard takes maximum points as they’ve actually lost a bit of time back to the bunch. They’re now 12 minutes clear with 106 kilometers left.
Squire
does one better on the fourth category climb with 76 kilometers to go though, and wins it. The breakway is now nine minutes in front of the peloton.
60 kilometers left and it’s the final mountain sprint of the stage. Squire
looks strong as he once again outsprints Salgueiro
for the maximum points.
They’re looking good for the stage win as well. They’re 8’20 in front of the bunch.
LukOil-Rostelekom Bouygues Telecom
are the two teams setting the pace in the peloton, but they’re clearly not fast enough. 45 kilometers from the finishing line and they’re no less than seven minutes behind the five early escapers!
As the sun shines on the riders 26 kilometers away from home the gap is down to four minutes. The escapers continue to co-operate well though, knowing that’s their only chance of a stage win.
Chérel
leads the bunch with 20 kilometers to go, chasing 3’15 behind the breakaway. Remembering how steep those final kilometers are, they’re still within a shout of the stage win!
Hasanovic
starts to get worried they’ll be caught by the peloton, and he attacks 15 kilometers away from home being 2’10 in front of the chasing bunch.
He’s caught two kilometers later though, meaning we still got five riders chasing the stage win up front.
It’s some serious racing back in the peloton though! Zakarin
has launched a strong attack with 14.9 kilometers left, and no one seems able to follow his wheel!
The Russian is super strong! Zakarin
catches the five early escapers with 9.700 meters to go. They’re still 70 seconds ahead of the bunch, meaning they got a fair chance winning the stage.
3.7 kilometers to go and let the final climb begin! It’s LukOil-Rostelekom
chasing at the front of the bunch as they’re 30 seconds and 300 meters behind the six riders in the lead.
2.9 kilometers to go and Hoogerland
launches a powerful attack as he sees Zakarin
about to push clear up front!
Levarlet
is the only rider immediately on the Dutch cyclist’s rear wheel, but only 200 meters later the yellow jersey himself Iglinski
launches an attack to bridge!
Fourth overall Levarlet
are really putting pressure on Iglinski
here.
He attacks again with 1.7 kilometers to go! He’s followed by Iglinski Hoogerland
as they’re only 21 seconds behind Zakarin
who is still going strong solo up front. All breakaway riders are caught.
Under the kite and Levarlet
has proved strongest of the attackers as he’s the only one to bridge the gap to Zakarin!
It looks to be all about those five, as Scarponi
is next on the road, but he’s 38 seconds behind the mentioned trio.
Levarlet
moves into the lead only 700 meters away from home as the road kicks with 10 percent!
Hoogerland Iglinski Schreurs
are able to catch Zakarin
500 meters from the finishing line, but isn’t that a gap starting to form to Levarlet?
The Frenchman isn’t only looking for the stage win here, he could get the yellow jersey as well!
200 meters and one final left turn to go, as the four chasers can’t shut the gap to Levarlet
down! The Frenchman is looking at a big, big win here in Austria!
It’s the stage win for Levarlet!
He was the strongest on the final hill, and proved his great abilities in the sprint.
Hoogerland Iglinski Schreurs Zakarin
follow just behind. Big question is if they will get the same time as the French winner.
Those eight bonus seconds Iglinski
gets could prove vital for his yellow jersey!
Scarponi Bibby
follow more than a minute behind the stage winner for sixth and seventh.
Kolobnev Kolesnikov Cataldo
leads home what’s left of the peloton about 1’30 behind Levarlet
Morabito Eltink Schrangl Roman
are all here.
Sorry for no exported results from this stage either. It's kind of annoying.
